The McReynolds Family

UPDATE

Donations are now being accepted. Thank you for your patience and support.

Donations are paused fo approximately 24 hours. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. I will let you know when donations are accepted again

My name is Rebecca. Or Auntie Beppa to my favorite little human, my nephew! I’m here to tell you a little bit about him & ultimately, why we’re here.

My nephew has a big story that we want to share with you but in doing so we want to honor his present and future by keeping certain parts of all of this private. We want him to be able to tell his story how and when he wants to online when he’s old enough to decide. This part of his story may be big, but his personality, his growing character, his love for his family & his future are so much bigger. We will be calling him J & not showing his sweet little face. But please know, even though this auntie may be biased, he is pretty dang adorable.

As he continues to grow and change, his diagnosis has as well. He is currently at Seattle Children’s for the next few months at least, undergoing the next wave in his treatment plan.

The doctors have told us that J’s specific case, is very rare. He has multiple diagnosis that unfortunately aren’t the best playmates:

1- SJIA, Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. To really simplify what this means, it’s an inflammatory disease that can affect joints, organs, and so on. The inflammation can be triggered when he’s introduced to something as little as a bug or virus.

2- ILD, Interstitial Lung Disease. ILD has unfortunately partnered with SJIA and has been causing lung damage.

3- J is immunosuppressed due to some of the medications he needs. His immune system is very weak and he picks up any little bug. Those bugs cause problems for his other 2 diagnosis.

The Doctors goal with this wave of treatment, is to kill off his current immune system & then reboot it. J, is preparing to begin chemo treatment followed by a bone marrow transplant. We are incredibly grateful that they have a great match for him & an amazing team of doctors, nurses & volunteers that have all fallen under J’s spell!

This past year and half, has brought so many challenges and changes for the family. Many stays at Seattle Children’s, countless prescriptions, weekly trips to Seattle for infusions & distance from so many loved ones. I have witnessed & have been humbled by the generosity of friends, family & neighbors who know that this is an incredibly hard season for J and his parents; emotionally, physically as well as financially. Our goal of this is to try to take away some of the financial weight so they can put all of their focus on helping J get better. If you’re able to give either financially (no matter the amount) or even sending positive thoughts & prayers, please know how much that means to them, to my family.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know his story & thank you for being a part of it.

With so much gratitude,

Auntie Beppa